"Life-threatening attack"' on Scindia after black flags shown to him, says Shivraj Chouhan

Terming the incident of Congress workers showing black flags to BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in Bhopal "shocking", former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday demanded action against those involved in the "attack" and alleged that the law and order of the state had collapsed.

"You can simply imagine the kind of situation prevailing in the state. A government which has lost majority is engineering attacks. I strongly condemn this incident and appeal to police and administration to take swift action against those responsible for this attack on Scindia," Chouhan said in a statement. "The law and order situation has totally collapsed in the state," he said.

Chouhan claimed that Scindia's vehicle was stopped and stones pelted at it in the "life-threatening attack". With great difficulty, the driver managed to take the car carrying Scindia away from the spot, he said. BJP workers led by party's Bhopal district unit president Vikas Virani held a protest outside Shymala Hills police station demanding that an FIR be registered against those involved in the incident.

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Congress workers waved black flags at Scindia, who joined the BJP on Tuesday after ending an 18-year stint with the grand old party, in Kamla Park area when he was on his way to the airport this evening. According to state Congress secretary Abdul Nafees, the party workers also blackened a vehicle which was part of Scindia's motorcade.

Scindia's poster torn 

Hours before Jyotiraditya Scindia landed in Bhopal on March 12, his posters outside the BJP office was smeared with ink. A day after Scindia ended his 18-year-old association with the Congress party to join the BJP, the saffron party staged a grand welcome for his return from Delhi on Thursday. 

In an apparent revolt to this move, ink was thrown on the poster of Scindia which was put up near the Polytechnic Chouraha in Bhopal, and a part of it was also torn. In the poster, the newly inducted BJP leader was seen alongside PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national chief JP Nadda amongst the other senior leaders of the saffron party. 

On Friday, Scindia filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections in Bhopal and was accompanied by senior BJP leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Member of Parliament from Bhopal Saadhvi Pragya, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and thousands of supporters of the former Congress leader. The elections for Rajya Sabha polls are set to take place on April 26 in Bhopal.

(With agency inputs) 

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